The Boothbay Lady Seahawks partied like it was 1984 on March 2 as they won their second Class C girls basketball state championship in 35 years. Boothbay entered the state title game in Bangor 21-0 and faced an early deficit against northern Maine champion Penobscot Valley (17-5) of Howland. Boothbay trailed by nine midway in the first quarter as the Howlers took a 13-4 lead. But the Seahawks used a strong defensive effort in sparking a rally resulting in Boothbay defeating Penobscot Valley, 33-25.

The Seahawks’ defense manhandled all 22 opponents this season. Boothbay  allowed an average of 26 points per game. Despite an early deficit, the Seahawks believed they could rebound and capture a state championship

“It really came down to who wanted it more. And we wanted it more,” said sophomore forward Glory Blethen. “On offense our ball movement improved and we are all committed to each other, and we play for each other so we knew we could still win.”

That commitment and defense showed in quarters 2, 3 and 4. Penobscot Valley only scored 12 more points. The Seahawks’ defense allowed only two Howlers to score. Center Alexis Ireland led all scorers with 18 and guard Emily St. Cyr added seven. Boothbay outscored the Howlers 29-12 after facing an early deficit. On offense, Boothbay struggled as it had in previous tournament losses. In the past three seasons, Boothbay lost to the eventual state champion in the tournament, and each time offensive productivity was a key factor.

Penobscot Valley’s 2-3 zone harassed Boothbay for most of the first half before Boothbay coach Brian Blethen made a change. “We prepared for a triangle and two defense, but their ball pressure caused us a lot of problems. So I tweaked our offense a little, by adding what we do against a 1-3-1 zone in the first half’s  last minute which helped our ball movement,” he said.

In the second quarter, Penobscot Valley scored only two points, allowing Boothbay to trim its deficit  to four.

At halftime, Coach Blethen had a positive message for his team. “I told them not to worry because we are in good shape. We’ve faced adversity before and our tweaks were starting to work,” he said.

Boothbay took an early 2-0 lead after Faith Blethen secured an offensive rebound and scored. The next Seahawk lead didn’t occur until 2:52 remaining in the third quarter. Senior guard Ashley Abbott secured an offensive rebound. On her ensuing shot, she was fouled. With Boothbay trailing 17-16, Abbott made both free throws. Abbott wasn’t part of the past two tournament teams which lost to Monmouth Academy in the regional tournament. But in this year’s tournament, she received a warm homecoming.

“Coach came over and whispered in my ear ‘welcome home.’ What a great way to celebrate your senior year,” she said.

On offense, the Seahawks had a well balanced scoring attack. Glory Blethen was the leading scorer with 10. Other Seahawk scorers were Faith Blethen with nine, Chloe Arsenault with eight, Kylie Brown with four and Abbott with two.

In the past four years, Boothbay has lost only four games. Senior Faith Blethen started all four years’ seasons and played in the 2016 state championship game loss to Narraguagus.  After Saturday’s game, tears flowed from Faith’s eyes and she swung the nets in  delight.

“It’s an emotional moment.  It caps off a great four years. And the reason why we are holding the gold ball is due to the unselfishness of this team,” she said. “We believe in each other and that belief showed tonight. We came back against a great team,”  she said. “I’ve really got to give Penobscot Valley a lot of credit and Ireland is a really great player.”

So in a season in which the Lady Seahawks had total faith in one another, it resulted in the ultimate glory of becoming State Class C champions in Coach Blethen’s second season.